A Night at the Katz Motel
A Night at the Katz Motel is the first episode of Season One, which aired November 12, 1999, preceding Cajun Granny Stew. It was written by John R. Dilworth and Irvin S. Bauer, and also directed by Dilworth. Plot While on their way home from a trip, an elderly couple named Muriel and Eustace Bagge with their dog Courage become caught in a storm, forcing them to stay for the night at the Katz Motel on the side of the highway. They are welcomed by the proprietor, Katz, who reveals that canines are strictly prohibited. Courage is forced to sleep outside the motel, while Muriel and Eustace attempt to settle in for the night. An unseen figure, presumably Katz, unleashes an enormous spider on Courage, before dropping another in Muriel's bath through the faucet. Courage barely escapes and begins searching for his owners, while Muriel is ambushed by the spider in the bathtub. Courage is alerted by her screams and launches himself through the window, only to discover Muriel being attacked by the monstrous spider down the toilet. Muriel instructs Courage to wake Eustace, but his efforts prove futile. Eustace's bed is revealed to be a hidden door when it flips, causing him to disappear. Courage discovers Eustace has disappeared and quickly goes to the lobby to get help, only to discover it empty. Upon further inspection, he discovers another room covered in spider webs, with an unconscious Eustace about to be consumed by a larger and deadlier spider. Courage pulls up a loose floorboard and crushes the creature underneath it, before rescuing a still sleeping Eustace. While Courage makes his escape carrying the still sleeping Eustace, Katz appears and blocks the way out, forcing Courage to toss Eustace's bound and unconscious form on him. Courage hides in the motel's basement, only to discover it is where Katz stores the spiders. A terrified Courage bursts through the door, knocking it loose from its hinges and onto an awaiting Katz, who quickly recovers. He corners Courage in a part of the basement and forces him to play a game of handball for his freedom. Meanwhile, Muriel is able to knock the spider into the toilet, flushing and drowning the creature. Katz triumphs over Courage in the game and proceeds to smother him with one of his spiders. However, Muriel appears and strikes Katz over the head with a badminton racket, dazing him and rescuing Courage. An irritated Muriel drives her dog and husband away from the motel, complaining about the awful service. Characters Main Characters: *Courage *Muriel *Eustace *Katz (debut) Minor Characters: *Katz' Spiders (debut) Quotes *"This looks like a crummy place to end a crummy vacation." — Eustace (first lines) *"Welcome... to the Katz Motel. I'm Katz." - Katz *"No dogs allowed." - Katz *"It's Muriel! She's in trouble!" - Courage *"I wish you hadn't done that." — Katz (repeated line) *"There's no place to run, and no place to hide." - Katz *"Now you're going to learn why nobody ever checks out of the Katz Motel." - Katz *"That's a fancy blanket grandpa has on. Maybe we should get you one." — Muriel (final lines) Trivia *First appearance of Katz. *A bit of early installment weirdness: Katz has a penchant for spiders, and keeps them as pets who seem to be a huge part of his schemes. By "Klub Katz," this part of his character was completely phased out. *The Japanese dub title of this episode is "クモの巣こわいよ〜！" ("Kumo no su kowai yo~!") which means "Scary Spider Web~!" *Courage speaks a lot in this episode, in contrast to the gibberish (in other words, barking) primarily in later episodes. However, the most he speaks will be in "The Shadow of Courage." *The Space Chicken cameos as a rubber duck in Muriel's bathtub. *The Bagges' room number is 666½. *This is one of the few episodes where Muriel actually saves herself, instead of Courage usually saving her. *Courage uses a "Dil" brand chainsaw. *The people who checked in the Katz Motel previously are actually staff members who worked on the show. Cultural references *When Courage transforms into a dragon, he resembles Dragonite from the Pokémon franchise. Coincidentally, the Pokémon anime also aired on Cartoon Network (on its Toonami programming block and on the main network itself), and around the time this series premiered, to boot. *The Katz Motel could be a reference to the Bates Motel from the Psycho movies. Category:Episodes Category:Season 1 Category:1999